


A Realm Of Their Own

by SirenLorelei



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Eventual Relationships, F/M, Jotunn Loki (Marvel), The Nine Realms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-07 07:11:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18615694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirenLorelei/pseuds/SirenLorelei
Summary: A chance encounter, like most, gets attention when Stephen Strange perceives something out of the ordinary. This in itself stirs the curiosity of the God of Mischief from whom the woman is being kept from. While the Doctor turns to Thor for advice on the different denizens of the Nine Realms though it comes at a difficult time while the God of Thunder settling into his ruling of those that remain of Asgard aboard the Statesmen. Naturally, Loki takes it upon himself to learn how this woman from Earth carries the essence of the Vanir and how best to use her to his advantage.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> While I am a canon junky, hating to part from canon, I am taking it upon myself a small liberty and extending the period of time between the fall of Asgard and the destruction of the Statesmen from which Loki himself is a casualty. All character information will by loyal to Earth 199999 to the best of my ability so, enjoy. I may or may not continue this idea, but it was swimming about my head for days and getting in the way of sleep.

I              

                There is a moment that is often described as 'eyes meeting across a room'. The size of the room is ever disclosed nor the occupants besides the pair whom the eyes belong, but sometimes, rarely, the circumstance of how this moment came about it taken note of enough to coin a phrase. That moment can only be recognized by those not tied visually to another soul and rarer yet is the significance fully measured for its value. When it is seen for what it is, truly, a care is given to protect the privacy of those involved.

That is what he thought when he watched the woman step into the elevator. She was human with no doubt to that, however invisible he and his two other guests were; she sensed it. At first it was a subtle aversion, perhaps to the cool air pouring down through the vent above her, yet it extended into a thickening of the faint wrinkle between her brows. The curious thoughts abounding in her mind, apparent in her face, brought her to scan the elevator, seeing nothing yet searching anyways. She paused in her search only once and he marked the notion quickly enough, sensing an odd sensation emanating from the woman.

3 seconds. That was all it was and she was unaware that her gaze had been captured nor the miscreant with his penchant for mayhem. Unblinking she stare into unreadable eyes before moving her eyes back to the door indicating that her floor had arrived and without hesitation, she parted them.

The smallest of global fascinations begin from minuscule movements. The rotation of the Earth around the Sun in partnership with the Moon ebb and flow to change seasons, that simple change in day length begins the bloom of wintering flowers. The gusts that blow over the African desert fed jungles an ocean and continent over. This shift, the curious linger of eyes even after doors had closed warned of disaster he couldn't identify. The feeling was foreign, a mental rant that bordered on insanity, but it lingered in his mind which was all the warning he needed.

"If you'll excuse me, I have a slight detour to make. Do you think you can keep your brother in check for a minute?" A golden head nodded even as amber particles whipped into a hole that ripped wide, a window peering into the same world yet a finger-breadth away while far removed and Stephen Strange commanding powers without flourish.

"It's not my strongest point, but I think I can manage for just a minute." Equal parts amused and prickled, Thor glanced at Loki who was as uninterested in anything the good doctor said after his last 'appointment'.

"Please, find it in your good senses to get misplaced in your travels." The pair, Doctor and God share a single scathing regard before one vanished in the hail of ember-like lights, leaving the gods to themselves. 

"You did make a bad impression, brother. Surely you can't blame him for being wary." Thor smirked, enjoying that he was not the only one to find it his personal duty to keep Loki under lock and key even when the literal sense was no longer as necessary.

"Impressions are for those you wish to impress. There is nothing in these sacks of meat I find endearing enough to degrade myself for."

                Opening the door to her office, greeted by her secretary Elise with a list of calls to be returned, the woman from the elevator walked past the chaise lounge, side table toward a mahogany desk. She picked up a delivered box with momentary interest only to glance at the computer with a measure of disdain.

"If the light of your computer bothers you the moment you look at it, it lends to be believed the problem lays with the work ahead over the irritant caused by blue spectrum light. I suggest a vacation before you buy another pair of glasses." Stephen closed the gateway before speaking, watching the last flicker of light dwindle while in observation of the tasteful office. Startled out of her wits however his kind speech, the woman leaned too hard on the back of the chair and it swung away from her in her fright and brought her to the ground nearly on her face. Getting up quickly, she looked to see the chaise was again empty of an intruder and taking in all of her office she shouted and back up against the wall closest as a second barrage of surprise threatened her lifespan. "Ms. Elin De Dysse. I mean you no harm, it would go against my oaths taken... how long have you worked here for?" Stephen asked plainly, his eyes roving about the pictures on the desk he know stood over.

"H-how did you get into my office? Who let you in here?" Either unwilling to answer his questions, Stephen pulled his gaze from her desk to study the woman in her entirety.

"My name is Dr. Stephen Strange and I let myself in. We met earlier today, but I doubt you saw me..." She searched her memory for meeting such a person and realized that was impossible. She'd have noted such a flamboyantly dressed individual quite clearly.

"You have me mistaken for someone else and I have no appointments with any doctor so I think it best you leave now." Elin remained wallpapered to the wall making Stephen reconsider for a moment the easiest method to educate himself on her. With that in mind he walked around the desk, away from Elin, and pulled a thick file from his person. He flicked through it, papers, pictures and articles of Ms De Dysse followed by identifications and birth certificates lending weight to the feeling before being nothing more than a oddity. Weight that it was however was not enough to ignore the feeling that he still sensed and he closed the book making the woman jolt even as she fumbled with her phone.

"I'm afraid I need a moment more of your time." Without warning, Steohen's voice still across the room and calm as it had been the whole time, a hand came out and plucked the phone straight from her hands. Her vocal cords constricted in her shock that her next words came out as a nearly inaudible shriek. 

"No-" Elin stare dumbstruck, shock suffusing her features as she witnessed the tail end of the 'doctors' trick. He had not moved from his position nearly in the middle of her office, but rather had opened a gateway and took the item, his hand becoming visible to her as it withdrew from out of the ring of swirling lights.

"You look pale. Perhaps you should sit-" He gestured to the chaise mid-sentence, however his words were already lost on the woman as she slipped back against the wall and crumpled, sitting upright in the corner, crushing a fern beneath her.

He looked at the woman, her phone and then his watch, then exhaling through his nose in impatience at being later than he'd planned.

"No other choice."

Moments later Stephen was waiting for his guests to arrive, the elevator door opening at the correct floor for them to exit. He watched the impressed expression grace Thor's face while failing to see why, some part of him that once believed in normalcy dead in the light of recent months and the events within them.

"You really did mean just a minute. I must say it looks easier than being lead by a hammer." His voice was a jovial tone poured over a deep tenor.

"I imagine the ride is smoother as well. This way please." Stephen lead the pair around a corner, a hallway unmarked by much other than doors and walls signs oddly blank of any indicators of what lay within.

"What _did_ you manage to do in such a short amount of time?" The question brought much to the forefront of his mind, but the doctor sufficed with a simple answer.

"An interview. I have to meet with them again, but it seems to have gone well."

 

II

               

                Mildly exhausted by the tedious tasks of conversation with the sibling gods from Asgard, Stephen returned to the New York Sanctum knowing the day was not yet finished and would likely not end for some time. Thinking as much he did then, he found his steps automatically drawn to the lower levels were he was forced to keep his guest at present. It was an unfortunate matter of things, but in the end a choice otherwise did not present itself.

"Good Evening Ms. De Dysse, I am sure-" He didn't continue the string of words he was going to attempt to use and explain certain things as it now stood, yet at present it no longer matter. He felt a tug of his cloak propel him forward as if that wasn't already his intent as the woman was still asleep from her earlier plight of inundation. "You should have woken by now." Concerned, he bent down and touched her wrist, half expecting an assault on his person, but a further observation show she hadn't moved since he set her on the couch. Naturally his previous profession took precedent and he ran a quick physical beginning with pulse which already warned of something worrisome. Under his touch her heart beat abnormally and thready while her pallor took on a grey complexion, skin cool despite the clamminess that the kindly furnished room would not have generated.

 _This is something else,_  he mused _._ Ignoring the reason he felt it necessary to question Ms. De Dysse at the onset, Stephen lifted her up and opened a rift, Wong appearing on the other side and equally perplexed as he was startled. "I have a guest who seems to have taken ill inside the Sanctum who seems to be ailing from something I can't pinpoint."

"You're the doctor here, what do you expect me to do about this?" Peering closer at the woman, Wong gave a curious expression having missed the genuine trouble Stephen felt plucking at him- mainly his cloak again. "Please stop that." Admonished, it fell quiet again though it went limp with seemingly exasperation after a final tug.

"I had to bring this woman in for some light questioning after interacting with her today, that was early this afternoon."

"And?" Wong stepped closer, intrigued by the same feeling Stephen was picking up on.

"She has failed to wake up since then." His point was made and Wong gave her a cursory examination which made Strange's intuition justified.

"You get that feeling too?" A ring of sigils blazed after a gesture and they changed colors, sparks splintering off in a prism, the light spectrum split into every color, rays casting shadows at random until the ring dimmed and the lights with them. "Considering recent days, I figured I'd just have a look." Wong was interested by the conundrum presented and pondered to himself.

"That- was not what I expected. This does explain a small fraction of my questions, but doesn't help with the current problem... I had hoped I was finished with my delegates today too for a time." Stephen sighed desiring one particular Asgardian to remain outside Earth's realms. 

"I don't know what it is about some people, but lately nothing has been simple or ordinary, even among us." Wong rubbed his chin as if feeling for the stubble of a five o'clock shadow that never existed. 

"Agreed, I don't have time to get advice from that avenue though with whatever is going on here-" Once again the Cloak of Levitation pulled, yanked really, Stephen nearly from his feet while holding Ms. De Dysse, hem coiling into a point down the hall. "If you're going to communicate like this I really do need to find a better way for you to do it." Already Wong had stepped inside the New York Sanctum, currently educating himself on some matter of art in the L.A. branch.

"Do you feel _that?_ " However Strange sensed nothing Wong inquired about, but the woman who visibly was becoming worse as a sheen of sweat jeweled the bridge of her nose.

"I'm afraid I'm not sure what your referring to if other than her." But quick as a flick of his wrist, Wong vanished in a flare of light, doors opening and closing at quick succession around the mansion. "Don't worry, I'll just stand here holding this person." Stephen managed to look mildly put off by the situation while going through the mass volumes of information in his head that may give him some answers passively.

"Woah- Strange! You might want to come see this." Another portal opened and Stephen stepped within, stopping just on the other side while his brows knit together most seamlessly. "When did you get this from Britain and what is it feeding on?" The moment he came through, the woman gagged and became a dead weight in his arms before Wong had even finished with his guess being De Dysse.

"I think we have the answer for that." As a final form of retaliation for being ignored, the cloak came up and cuffed the back of his head rather unceremoniously. "Take it with you back to L.A. and close the portal. Whatever light it has tapped into within Ms. De Dysse, I believe that light is running out." Stephen informed the other of his thoughts and stepped back out of the portal into the previous room two levels down technically. 

"You going to be alright on your own?" Wong wrapped the Dark Scepter and removed it from its casing, the halo flaring slightly at being released before dimming again as he passed on the other end of a final ring he himself opened back into the LA sanctum.

"We shall see soon enough. I will inform you by more- conventional means- about what happens." Wong nodded, closing the gateway at once. With a small sort of direction now, Stephen quickly gathered the fleshly paperweight into a better location within the mansion, doing another physical which since the last was even more worrisome. The only thing that caused him to believe the Scepter to have been the source of this particular problem was that her pulse no longer suffered terribly and while weak, it was now steady. "This was not the trouble I was expecting when I contacted you Ms. De Dysse. I hope you will see it as such when you wake up... Now to make a few additional 'calls'." Though his mind considered these avenues, he was horrendously tired and now unable to sleep with his ill patient. That being the case, he sat in a wing-back chair and closed his eyes, quick to fall unconscious thought his mind watched in the astral manner.

_It is an amusing notion that even with what I have witnessed since the Ancient One taught me, things still make me realize the vastness of the universe. So, that begs the question of the hour now, doesn't it? Which part do you hail from?_

 

III

 

                The constant flood of light within the Sanctum did not dim despite the time of day beyond the walls, a luminous aspect that granted it some of the mystic humans felt if they were so lucky to witness it. Having slept at least bodily for a nights rest, Stephen Strange sat amid a mire of books he'd pilfered from other locations of the mansion, tied for the moment to the room his patient sleep. Regularly he administered basic medical exams to assess her stability which was steadily on the incline since the removal of the Dark Scepter.

Having stirred no more than breathing allowed, Ms. De Dysse continue to remain as he had found her upon his return the night before. Her fair visage stood stark against the deeper colors of wine or winter green as if she too emit a glow, but that was not entirely false either though no visible spectrum could he see with a naked eye. She was a beautiful woman in both a natural and exotic manner. She wore no finery beyond a set of earrings nor much make-up he could tell, yet he found a similar description in his head of those reminisce of Cleopatra. While the ancient queen had been perhaps average at face value, she commanded a strength without that made writers and lovers clamor and speak of her for many years later. Elin was not plain and she had conducted herself rather well in the short period he'd occupied her attention, but an impression had been made; though what exactly it was he had yet to pinpoint.

"Wizard! Do you not greet guests at the door?" A voice carried with a rumble through the mansion, the door opening for the God of Thunder despite his lack of awareness and gratitude. Sigh cloistered in his throat though, Dr. Strange opened a portal to admit Thor to his exact whereabouts without making additional hallways that had only recently been repaired.

"If any title is applied, Master of the Mystic Arts is more accurate than "Wizard"." Stephen did not look up from his book, nearly finished a page that was of interest.

"Did you invite me to berate me, because I have others just as willing and I could have saved myself this trip." Shifting his weight to one side Thor looked nearly human in Earth clothing even if his speech pattern left much to be desired in the illusion. He stood with his weight shifted as if not used yet to being without the heavy hammer recently lost.

"No. Rather I asked you here for advice. You have knowledge of other realms that I do not have and I believe to have stumbled across something- or rather someone, that may fall in areas better suited to you. If I might direct your attention to the bed." Stephen gestured with a magicians grace towards the bed and curious, having not paid any mind to the bed at all before, the God of Thunder drew close to it's occupant.

"She is familiar- the woman of your moving floor." Thor responded quickly and Stephen nodded.

"I'm glad you recall the moment because I would like to ask you a question now. As you recall, we had traveled under cover of invisibility. Did you note anything odd when you think back in regards to this woman?" Thor thumbed through his memory in question and paused.

"Not at the time, but as you seem to be looking for something out of the ordinary, she did seem unsettled about something." The God of Thunder admired her pretty features for a moment before scrutinizing the doctor. 

"I had hoped my imagination was getting away with me, but of late that doesn't seem to be the case. Especially with your kind about. So, looking at this woman, tell me your opinion." A quizzical brow lifted in earnest. "Beyond an aesthetic appraisal." Thor chuckled slightly and came to consider Elin closer and did not stand there long before his face was lacking its previous joviality. "Not human?" Stephen's doubts were realized rather quickly then.

"Not Midgardian, no. Not entirely at least. What is it you want to know about this person? Is she dangerous?" Thor himself did not imagine so yet a pretty face did not mean daggers or the likes did not abound.

"I'm not convinced of that, but unwilling to assume... I noted something which has yet to be confirmed or denied either way. Is she a denizen of your realms is what I'm asking now. My study of her have been- inconclusive." The small array of exams not medical had turned up little that made any sense to him.

"Perhaps, I have not spent as much time as my father had in the other realms, yet a feeling I get reminds me of one of the Vanir." A god's face took on a look of far-off consideration.

"Could this be such a Vanir; bred with a human perhaps?" Strange's eyes were guided to the woman, worried further by the rise of more who easily outmatched humans in their regular state if their first train of thoughts turned to be the accurate one at all.

"There are always ways between the worlds, small as they may be, but I find it unlikely. The Vanir are kin to the Aesir and we did not easily mingle with those of Midgard." Thor's response did not really give answer to anything concrete. 

"Then this leaves my questions greatly unanswered still..." The pair pass a moment in thought which made the room rather quiet and in an eerie sort. 

"Might I offer a tentative suggestion? Ally to ally?" The good doctor listened, but gave no nod that he would be any more accepting than that of an opinion. "My brother-"

"No." The bald face denial brought even Thor aback, even despite the history only briefly shared between Wizard and Jotunn. Of this path, Stephen had no desire to seek out help of any kind. 

"Well, that was quick." Stephen swallowed his dislike of the foul mouthed and lethally temperamental mischief maker that was Thor's adoptive brother, but still the man tried to find acts for clemency in his brother's case. "That may be your choice, but Loki is versed in lore than I am not and the Vanir live apart from those of the Aesir. If you wish for any information, I might ask it of him though he may or may not give it."

"I would prefer no such conversation to take place. Let us not _overwhelm_ the leaf your brother seems to be trying to adopt of late." To this Thor agreed, seeing reason in the wise words of a man eclipsed in age by any child of Asgard.

"Tell me, what kind of sorcery have you placed on this woman that we stand here and she remains fitfully unaware. I've only slept like that after battle or drinking. Usually the both happen on the same day." Thor's jovial inquiry was not received with amusement and to this Dr. Strange was ill informed to reply.

"I'm not sure... when I brought her, she was asleep, but fine. When I returned the same could not be said." The Doctor was curious that Thor once more gave a clear show of his emotional thoughts; surprise. "There was another relic here and seemed to affect her to this end and she has not woken since."

"What was this relic to have this effect?" This detail the doctor did not wish to discuss and Thor could well see it even as Stephen continued on,

"It has been removed in hopes she would respond favorably. At this point, I am unsure how to aid this individual as I cannot be sure even what she is." Both fell into a silent calm, regarding each other and the woman again.

"What is the woman's name?" Thor's attention turned inward again with some consideration or another. 

"Elin Frea De Dysse. I had hoped, considering the foundation of the name I would have struck more luck with you." The woman's name had roots found strongly in Norse and close neighboring language. 

"I can see that. I am sorry I cannot help you, Wizard... What was it that concerned you so much of her attention... is it not normal for a human to pay mind to their surroundings?"

Stephen sat back, fingertips arched together in thought while his elbows rest on the arm of the wing backed chair.

"Normal yes, but considering what we have discovered of her so far I would think what I saw was not coincidence. Had she been human and nothing else, I might have allowed it go more easily. This- complicated things in my mind."

To this Thor laughed and returned towards the door before swinging about at a loss.

"I cannot fathom the mind of a wizard. It was never a talent of mine and my brother is more apt than I care to admit. I hope you find answers that are good enough. If sleep is hard to come by I have that tried a tested method." Thor's features warmed in the light as Stephen lifted his hand, not once removing himself from the chair at all and opened a portal for his companion to return aboard the Statesmen. "I know he has caused much harm and he is dangerous even when your ally, but if it's information you want, my brother most likely has it." He left then and Stephen closed the portal, light flickering dim.

"Not much trust in a man who deserves none." Shaking the ill mood from his head he got to his feet and observed Elin, motionless nearly but greatly returned to normal health.

_One more night and then I will be forced to more creative methods._

 

IV

 

                _Standing in the elevator as it descended, Elin watched the floor indicator, seeing without really seeing. She waited, no one with her, the soft hush as the freight dropped past structural pillars in the shaft outside the grey walls. She felt slightly rushed, as if late for something, but unaware of what her tardiness was affecting._

_The elevator slowed, indicator counting down in her mind, but no digit on the screen above the door. Stopping finally, she waited. This was not her floor, but the doors opened to reveal an empty hallway lined with doors. Having expected someone to be there, Elin stepped forward and looked outside the doors, foot against the base to prevent it from shutting on her._

_"Hello?" There was no one and so she stepped back with an irritated sigh._

_"Hold the door?" She did, reaching out as the doors nearly closed, sliding open again with a faint grind._

_"Sure. Sorry about that." She apologized as a man stepped in to share the elevator._

_"Oh, no. Don't be." The man came in and pressed the floor number he needed. He was casually dressed, jeans and a t-shirt, dirty blonde hair and brilliant colored eyes. As he leaned back he dropped a number of small stones which he stooped to pick up and of the ones nearest Elin she did the same. "Thank you." She smiled up at him as she reached for another, but her hand snapped back when the stone burned her. "Are you alright?"_

_"I think so- I think I might have gotten a shock." That stone the man retrieved himself and she dropped what she'd picked up into his hands when they righted themselves. "That surprised me." Shaking the hand as if asleep, the feeling passed._

_"I'm sure it did. Are you alright?" Looking at him more closely, Elin tilted her head, searching for an image in her mind._

_"You look familiar." He chuckled while nodding his head as if this was a normal occurrence._

_"As do you."_

_"Do I?" She couldn't imagine that, but she did work in a large building after all and it had more floors than she ever visited._

_"Quite."_

 

 

 


	2. 2

I

 

                Stephen Strange sat on a cot he brought and rest beside the bed which Elin De Dysse sleep, a day passing with no change in his patients physical stance. There had been a fleeting moment which he thought to bring her to the hospital, but there were always problems in getting his help within, even among those he loved and trusted. That avenue closed, at least for now, he cross his legs, limbs relaxed and slipped into his altered state.

The physical realm of the mansion, while grandiose to outsiders was relatively plain, its mystic feel an attribute rather of what lay beyond regular sight. Spectral, discorporate and thus free from human eyes, the mansion took on the visage of ribbons, bent light and fine woven tapestry in a masterful work of art that still brought a rise of intense emotion to witness.

_The mystery continues._

Bending his spectral form to Ms. De Dysse, he was confronted with a rather different view of the subconscious. Humans, when re viewed as such tended to lend to a color or palette of shades that resembled their bodily form. While true still of this in a sort, what he witnessed with the woman was a color array. Her subconscious was a iridescent bubble, like light fractured, and from the outside he could see the tell-tale features of one not human as other tests had proven.

 _I would be better comforted by a specimen I had come to see before, but it looks I am not so fortunate._ Then, in a voice clear, the doctor extended his hand and asked permission. _Elin Frea De Dysse._ The spectrum of light that shifted in a constant shivered and paused, as if accessing the request before it continued. _I am grateful for your openness._ Slipping forward, falling into the subconscious of another, Stephen was barraged with the altered thinking patterns of the woman. He felt the pang of distressed he had never suffered as well as pleasure in situations foreign to him. _My name is Stephen Strange._

 _I remember you._ The realm of prism he wondered took form though he did not recognize it at first. _You kidnapped me._ He could not deny that was the human equivalent, but he'd not been able to explain beyond that and so, without a choice, he concede to her opinion.

 _I did remove you from your office, yes and I did not have permission to do so. Do you remember what we spoke about then?_ Asking her questions to jog her memory worked wonders in the form. While a dream often lent to illogical thinking, reviewing memories lent to nearly apathetic review.

 _You asked... me how long I had worked there. You were not invited._ Once more the light display shifted, threatening to expel him at her censure.

 _I was not, but I had good reason to find and speak to you, worried when you fainted however, I took it upon myself to help. I am a doctor after all so forgive me for my forward approach._ While he got the sensation of disbelief and distrust, weight was lent in his case because he'd not harmed her nor threatened her despite her fright in the moment. That was when the light took a cold feel, light as if stepping into a rolling fog off a lake.

_You took my phone from me... How did you do that, what are you, why am I here, what is this place, I want to go home, how do I escape, will anyone find me, I should have gone home on time, I work too much, this isn't how I want to die, where is this, will anyone hear me if I scream, can I over power this guy, fight him. Fight him. Don't go without a fight. Fight him._

Bombarded with the derailment of thought, the down side of logical thought progression was that now Ms. De Dysse was in a state outside his ability to sooth, his questions gone awry. With a hand held up, he attempted a submissive gesture while her voice vibrated through his being until her desire to protect herself did that.

He was ejected forcefully from her dream-state into his own body which fell backwards off the cot and crumbled under the unbalanced stress.

"That did not go as I had hoped."

Lifting himself from the wreckage, one leg of the cot broken now, Stephen considered his next step though he was assured by one thing amid the chaos found in Elin De Dysse' mind. She was afraid, afraid for herself of human attack. She did not retaliate as one trained in ways not human might have and needed to come to the decision to protect herself in the primal sort he would expect from any other person of Earth. This lent him the much easier choice to find a way to wake her and send her home rather than the interrogation methods previously considered because there was nothing malicious that he sensed from her. It was a relief on his mind and turned what her innate self was into a curiosity rather than a perceived threat.

Able to tend to things of import, Strange lifted the broken mess and mattress, removing it from the room. His patient was in no immediate health concern and he left comfortable of leaving in exchange for those more pressing matters. There was a moment, as he passed out of sight of the door that he wonder, his faculties of educated thought piqued, the grander scale of things. He minded the odd moment of the elevator days passed, the unique creature posed in Ms. De Dysse and her existence as an anomaly so rarely ending in no consequence.  

 

II

 

                _Elin sat among a throng of trees, tucked away from the busy sounds of the city, not a single tower in sight. The breeze was soft, nearly a standstill and added a quality of utter benevolent solitude no other place affording in her memory. This place, was a reflection of the inner peace she wished she could attain yet was struggling to grasp since meeting Stephen Strange a second time. She found solace in the imagination of her youth, finding a friend where none existed._

"Is this a place you know?" _She peered around the tree trunk she sat amid, the roots turning up like the arms of a chair for her leisure._

"No. Maybe. Is anything from the imagination really unique though? I think each part of what I make here is a figment of something lost in my memory. Or _that_ man's work." _Elin admired her world, the man from before coming to pause beside the tree, leaning against it with an equal wanderlust expression on his sun-kissed features._

"Cynical... But what purpose could you serve to the self-proclaimed 'Master of the Mystical Arts'?" _A moment, perhaps an eternity passed while she considered that, coming to stop, full circle._

"None. I found him in my office- or rather he found me and started asking me about myself... I have no money, no connections of any remarkable scale... it doesn't make sense." _The man considered this, curious of the same things that might bring the infuriatingly simple, magician with his parlour tricks to hunt down this particular woman. He would admit that there was an odd sensation to her scrutiny of the elevator, but what triggered the mad-doctor in the end? It was curious. Very curious, so it was time to play the devil's advocate._

"What _would_ a member of the Avenger's want in you, a human woman in comparison to what the Earth now has to offer." _A light sparked in her head, connections made that began another spiral of the little Alice in to Wonderland. That was when her eyes finally began to see and that gaze looked at him beyond first glances._

"An Avenger." Blue _eyes as dark as deep ocean peered up, her inner self recoiling though he doubt she knew she had done it._ "Like you. I remember you now. What do you want from me?" _Unconscious of her desire to self defend, a tree that had support her began to shift, moving to put anything between them. Her mind was sizing up the enemy while as unaware of her greater influence as the host of the subconscious realm within._

"Woman. Do you have any idea what is happening in the world around you? My friend is convinced you know something either helpful- or dangerous. I here to be a voice of reason as you are clearly just human."

"How are you in my head? Is this really my mind?" _He nodded, looking out over the vista of her creation. It was bland, lacking real wonder just like the drivel planet she came from._

"God of Thunder? There is little I can't do and yes, this is within your mind. Which leads to another reason that keeps you under the Wizards watchful eye- he claimed he brought you under his care unharmed, yet now we cannot wake you. Do you suffer some Earth illness?" _The unmasked concern made her think that perhaps she was sick and didn't know. It was rare for her to come down with anything, but Murphy's Law would demand it was her time._

"I don't think so. Not that I know... I don't remember being sick or feeling ill. He invading my office was the last thing I remember."

_Tired of the mindless small-talk with equally the mindless woman, Loki gave up the investigation. Whatever had the slightly more evolved doctor spooked was nothing but the overactive mind of a man fearing death around every corner. It did provide a small granule of satisfaction that he alone invoked such fear, yet it would hardly be enough to protect him if or when the opportunity arose of pay back his kindness._

"What are you doing?" _Losing interesting like it was a scent he could eliminate by exhaling, Loki conjured a fist clothed in arcing currents, the crackle not unlike a flock of birds taking flight in fear of a predator._

"A final test of innocence." _His tone conveyed nothing short of a witch trial in which death was the only attestation of incorruptibility. Elin backed away from the guarding tree limb, still bound by the laws of physics she was only ruled by while awake. She both passed and failed his test to a most curious end._

_Hand thrust out, the tree root seemed to absorb the impact before it exploded out in a cascade of shrapnel that propelled out around him. Pieces flew off, striking the woman to no effect, but this was illusion; mostly. Elin Frea De Dysse crouched, bent at the waist to cover her face, her scream enough to make staying in her mind uncomfortable, the mind attempting to eject him like waking from a nightmare. As she looked up, searching for a means to escape, his mark of illusion left a mark he could not explain; the same thing that stumped the not so useless doctor._

III

 

                Stephen Strange peer at a scene that was most tumultuous and puzzling and now lay in realms outside his ability to contend. Suffering injury at the hands of the Dark Scepter had been a stroke of misfortune, yet even still some havoc was at play in Ms. De Dysse beyond human hands to heal if in fact that was what she required.

"I have yet to have a single guest to the Sanctum that has been an enjoyable one." Prickled by the predicament he made a call to another citizen of New York for his advice in 'alien' diplomacy. Naturally having a portal open in the living room of Tony Stark caused a slight ruckus when the man himself was not present. "Forgive me Ms. Potts, I am searching for Tony at present. Could you direct me to his location?"

Wide-eyed, Pepper Potts pointed to levels of Stark Tower below them though as quick as her surprise had shown was it wiped away for something akin to benign wonder.

"He's downstairs working on some manner of death trap. Would you like me to tell him you're 'coming down'?" She pulled her phone out to message Tony, but Stephen shook his head.

"That is unnecessary, Ms. Potts. Thank you for your help." His face vanished with a pop that caused her to jump with surprise, a soft mark of surprise in her voice before stuffing the phone back in her pocket as if the moment had never happened or was an every-day occurrence. "Mr. Stark, may I have a moment of your time?" Target located, Stephen watched Tony slide out from under a dash board of intricate screens and lights before sliding under it again.

"Why not, you're already here invading my tower anyways. What's privacy, but a entitlement in today's modern world anyways?" Bypassing the snarky nature that was as much a staple of Tony Stark as was the Iron Man suit, Stephen strange began his inquiry.

"Glad you don't mind. As it were, I seem to be in the care of a non human individual and no manner to confirm their specie or evaluate the danger they may pose if they were to... wake from the coma inflicted." Once again Tony slide out from under the dash with an amused expression.

"A non-human. Powers?"

"Not displayed, but they are recently suspected."

"Violent tendencies?"

"Only if personal space is threatened." He answered after a moments consideration to which Tony chuckled.

"Imagine that. Well, if she has powers and isn't against us, ask her to give us her resume and hire her." His jovial address belittled Stephen's concerns greatly.

"A believe she may be Asgardian to some extent." That woke a measure more of seriousness.

"She? Well, you have an entire mansion to yourself so I can understand filling it with a few women." Stephen ignored the remark and continued on.

"Please attempt to keep a level of maturity on this matter." Tony smirked and stood up from the ground, placing the soldering gun down, the tip growing pale as it cooled. "I believe she was able to sense Thor and Loki when I was escorting them from Earth last and noted a more... 'interested' gaze from the more troublesome of the two."

"They do seem to recognize their own. Did they say anything to each other?"

"No, at the time, we three were invisible." His regular smile turned down with consideration, thinking now over what Stephen had said to date on the matter.

"You speak to Thor?" Stephen nodded. "What did he say about it?"

"That he was versed in other Asgardian-like denizens and she felt like the Vanir- a god-like race in themselves and closely related to the Aesire which Thor is a member by way of class. Beyond that he said his knowledge was lacking and to consider the newly allied brother for aid."

"I can see why you'd be hesitant. That brother of his is a loose cannon and all matter of sibling rivalry tied up with barbed wire versus the traditional ribbon... So what exactly do you want my help in. I'm afraid my skills here are much less that the rabbits you can pull from your hat."

"The last concern is her health." Stark frowned in full now, listening intently. "There was an object in my care that seems to have had an ill effect on her health and while it's been removed, she remains in a coma-like state. I had attempted to communicate with her within her mind, but I was not warmly received and rather quickly evicted.

"And you can't help her?" Stephen shook his head in genuine frustration.

"My skills do not extent well to those outside humans as a physician and some things cannot be fixed except by those who understand them best."

"You've said you don't think she is a threat nor was she violent. If it was a passing feeling of kinship that grabbed her attention, perhaps it is best to hand her over to Thor. If she's sick, there may be someone on the Statesmen that can help her recover. So, what is that is holding you back and brought you to me. You're a smart guy."

Doctor Strange exhaled, exasperated with what he'd hoped was nothing, proved to be nothing then became something only from his interference.  Swinging the portal over the bed where Elin sleep, she still had yet to move a single inch, her breath still steady and low as if in a normal state of sleep. Her eyes shift under their lids, face placid showing not a single sign of injury.

"Well, sh-"

"It concerns me, more now than before, that I have missed something important that could prove to exonerate or condemn Thor's brother depending on the outcome of uncovering what importance or lack thereof found in this woman. So, what do you believe we do with this woman now that you have a full scope of my concerns?"

Coming closer to the rift, Tony Stark peer closely as Elin, her features as calm as before. Her arms rest on top the blanket, her body tucked beneath it but she looked nothing like he imagined her too look. Skin the color of royal blue and hair a dark navy, she was anything but human looking.

"You didn't tell me she didn't look human. Was she just wandering around like that outside?"

"No. Whatever this is, happened in my care. Until an hour ago, she was as human looking as you and I." The conversation shut down for a long time, neither speaking while considering their own opinion and options to be considered, but in the end there was little more than one choice in the end.

 

IV

 

                The God of Thunder sat alone, staring out into the vast expanse of space. The light of stars and galaxies far removed as beautiful as they were cold and unforgiving. Amid those stars were places that peoples called home and while he was convinced that Asgard was a people, those very people he fought to protect were destitute. It was a sobering thought, these darker days more maturing than any year since his infancy till now.

"You look more like father when you sit pensive and stare." Thor turned, warmed by his brother's presence even if it still garnered caution.

"I would give anything for him to be here to guide us than the throne to have passed to me." Loki paused, quiet in his own thoughts.

"Always so sentimental." Thor did not rebuke his brother however, seeing a ghost of emotion cross his face, a step-mother's love more missed than his step-father's perhaps, but a loss equally felt.

"What brings you, brother?" Loki passed a set of chairs for the table which fruit sit, artfully arranged in a bowl. He picked up an apple, green and glossy and began to cut a sliver out.

"Boredom. Heroics is very dull, I wonder why you have kept at it for so long." He popped the piece in his mouth, chewing it lazily, equally as bored with eating as anything else.

"It is rewarding to protect people, especially our own people." The truth that Loki was in fact Jotunn went over-looked, Thor blind to the difference or uncaring of it. For the God of Mischief it was a source of pain and joy that fought in him not unlike the history shared between Odin and Laufey.

"Yes, yes... I know your speech well by now-" He had more to say, but at that moment an intriguing ring of embers swarmed before Thor who glanced at it and then Loki.

"What can my brother and I do for you, Mystical Master of Art?" Stephen ignored the unruly failure to yet again manage his title, but appreciated Thor's informing him of his brother's current presence.

"Yes. As we discussed before, I have come to a dead end and I worry for the health of the patient in my care. Do you have a physician for your kin aboard the Statesmen that would be willing to lend me their aid?" Loki snorted in derision.

"Oh look, another human that can't do anything without a herd of other lesser men. You drop a human on their head this time?" Thor sighed and ignored the jab, but the doctor however had a comment he thought his brother need hear.

"No, I only save that kind of treatment for the truly deserving... that being said, I have sought advice from others and it was decided that requesting your aid in this matter would be best."

"I will ask if there is anyone who would do this task. When do we expect her arrival?" Thor sat down in a chair, reaching for a handful of grapes.

"We had planned initially to have whatever aid you have to come here, but it is too many coming to the sanctum and I cannot allow it to come under any threat. I understand you would vouch for your people, but they are under your protection as this place is under mine."

"Attacking an Earth woman no less? The Avengers have stooped low now. What next, children?" Loki chuckled.

"Shut up, Loki... What exactly do you need me to do? The woman is still asleep, no?" Thor's question was granted a swift nod.

"Yes, but we have slightly new information about her identity that may help you while she is brought to you." Curious more so now that Doctor Strange was being cryptic, Thor agreed to meet within a few hours. "I await your arrival, a portal will open at the appointed time for you." And as quick as the doctor appeared, he was gone.

"Care to fill me in on your secret rendezvous with the good doctor?" Loki continued picking at his apple, half gone now in the short conversation had.

"It seems he may have stumbled upon one of our kind- a Vanir to some extent which begs me to wonder how she came to Midgard."

"One of the Vanir? That is interesting... but what would make one of their kind succumb to a Midgardian illness?" Both exchanged information though little was beyond his knowledge, Loki was pleased that his understanding was greater of the situation. This game of hide and seek with the doctor was the only thing currently occupying his mind from turning insane with being cooped on this ship with no place to go.

"I don't know, brother. But if she is truly one of our own, I wouldn't want to see her face this alone. It may be difficult coming to learn she is other than what she thought, so I want to see that if that is the case, she is informed the right way." Loki swallowed the sour taste of the comment left unspoken, a mark of his own history after all.

"Always so sentimental." He repeated and Thor stood up, glancing out the window again before turning his back on it entirely.

"You may continue to see it as a weakness, but it has served me well in gaining back my brother. I would accept all these scars again for the same result. Watch them while I am gone, protect our people, Loki."

Left to his own devices, Loki watched his brothers back vanished around a corner. He considered things personal to him, his mother, Odin, Thor. The loss of Asgard was a deep wound in his heart, the place of his youth destroyed in fire and smoke. He missed its beauty and the calm it instilled in him only being alone gave. That feeling and train of thought he ignored, a smile breaching his face in the direction of the exit were the door hummed with a heavy metallic thud as the door closed.

 


End file.
